Using Verbs Correctly

Y ou should read this chapter if you need to review or learn about

Verb tense

Regular and irregular verbs

Active and passive voice

Using verbs correctly

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In English, tense is used to show when something happens. Here, you will discover how
verbs are formed and how they are used to show time. Note: This chapter is especially
important for speakers of English as a second language.

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32 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

Overview of Verb Functions

Recall from Chapter 1 that verbs are words that name an action or describe a state of being. There
are four basic types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs, and verb phrases. Verbs
also convey information through changes in their form. Here are the five dif-ferent things we find out
from a verb:

Tense (when the action takes place: past, present, or future) Person
(who or what experiences the action)
Number (how many subjects act or receive the action) Mood (the
attitude expressed toward the action)
Voice (whether the subject acts or is acted upon: the active or passive voice)

The Six Verb Tenses

The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms:
basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). The basic form shows action, occur-rence, or state
of being that is taking place right here and now. The basic form also is the base for the future form
(i.e., I will sleep; they will sleep).

The following chart shows the six forms for the verb to walk:

Tense Basic Form Progressive Form

Present walk am walking

Past walked was walking
Future will walk will be walking
Present perfect have walked have been walking
Past perfect had walked had been walking
Future perfect will have walked will have been walking

The tense of English verbs is formed from helping verbs and principal parts. Each English verb has
four main parts, as shown in the chart on the next page.
Using Verbs Correctly 33
Principal Verb Parts

Present Present Participle Past Past Participle

look looking looked looked

dance dancing danced danced

1. The present tense

The present is used to form the present tense (“I look”) and the future (“I will look”). English uses
the helping verb will to show the future tense.
2. The present participle
The present participle forms all six of the progressive forms (“I am looking,” “I was look-ing,” and so
on).
3. The past tense
The past forms only one tense, the past. As with the present tense, the principal part stands
alone.
4. The past participle
The past participle forms the last three tenses: the present perfect (“I have looked”), the past perfect
(“I had looked”), and the future perfect (“I will have looked”). To form the past participle, start
with a helping verb such as is, are, was, has been. Then add the prin-cipal part of the verb.

Quick Tip
When you conjugate a verb, you list the singular and plural forms of the verb in a specific
tense.

Regular and Irregular Verbs

English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. These classifications come from the
way the verb forms its past tense and past participles.
Regular verbs: The past tense and past participle forms are created by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the
present form, but the vowel doesn’t change; for example, walk, walked, walked.
Irregular verbs: No pattern is followed when the past and past participle are formed. Instead,
there are many different forms. For example, with some irregular verbs the vowel changes and an -n
or -e is added, as in begin, began, begun. With other verbs, the vowel changes and a -d or -t is
added, as in lose, lost, lost.
34 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

Of all the verbs in English, lie and lay are likely the most often confused. Lay is a regular verb; lie is
an irregular verb.

Lie means “to repose.” Lie conjugates as lie, lay, lain. Lay means
“to put.” Lay conjugates as lay, laid, laid.
Because lay is both the present tense of to lay and the past tense of to lie, many speakers and writers
use lay when they mean lie.

Lie is an intransitive verb. That means that it never takes a direct object. When
people are exhausted, they should lie down for a rest.
Lay is a transitive verb. That means that lay always takes a direct object. Lay the
papers down.
The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same present
participle, past, and past participle forms.

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle

bid bidding bid have bid

burst bursting burst have burst
cost costing cost have cost
hit hitting hit have hit
hurt hurting hurt have hurt
kneel knelt knelt have knelt
let letting let have let
put putting put have put
set setting set have set

The next chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same past and past
participle forms.

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle

beat beat beaten have beaten

become became become have become
bend bent bent have bent
bind binding bound have bound
bite bit bitten have bitten
Using Verbs Correctly 35

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle

bring bringing brought have brought

build building built have built
buy buying bought have bought
catch caught caught have caught
creep crept crept have crept
dig dug dug have dug
dive dived or dove dived have dived
find finding found have found
fight fighting fought have fought
forget forgot forgotten have forgotten
forgive forgave forgiven have forgiven
get getting got have gotten, have got
grow grew grown have grown
hang hung hung have hung
hang (execute) hanged hanged have hanged
hide hid hidden have hidden
hold holding held have held
keep keeping kept have kept
lay laying laid have laid
lead leading led have led
lose losing lost have lost
pay paying paid have paid
prove proved proved, proven have proved,
have proven
ring rang rung have rung
say saying said have said
send sending sent have sent
show showing showed have showed,
have shown
sit sitting sat have sat
sleep sleeping slept have slept
spend spending spent have spent
spin spinning spun have spun
stand standing stood have stood
stick sticking stuck have stuck
teach teaching taught have taught
36 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

Quick Tip
The most irregular verb in English is to be. Its principal parts are be, being, was, were, been,
am, are, is.

The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that change in unpre-dictable
ways:

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle

arise arising arose have arisen
begin beginning began have begun
blow blowing blew have blown
break breaking broke have broken
choose choosing chose have chosen
come coming came have come
dive dived, dove dived have dived
do doing did have done
draw drawing drew have drawn
drink drinking drank have drunk
eat eating ate have eaten
fall falling fell have fallen
fly flying flew have flown
freeze freezing froze have frozen
give giving gave have given
go going went have gone
know knowing knew have known
lie (horizontal) lying lay have lain
ride riding rode have ridden
rise rising rose have risen
run running ran have run
see seeing saw have seen
shake shaking shook have shaken
shrink shrinking shrank have shrunk
sing singing sang have sung
sink sinking sank have sunk
Using Verbs Correctly 37

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle

speak speaking spoke have spoken

spring springing sprang have sprung
steal stealing stole have stolen
strive striving strove have striven
swear swearing swore have sworn
swim swimming swam have swum
take taking took have taken
tear tearing tore have torn
throw throwing threw have thrown
wake waking woke, waked have woken, waked
wear wearing wore have worn
write writing wrote have written

How to Use Tenses

The six tenses express time within three main categories: past, present, and future. You want to use
the tenses correctly so that you can show how one event is related to another. The fol-lowing chart
shows how the tenses are related.

Verb Tense and Time

Past Present Future

Simple past Simple present Simple future

Present perfect Future perfect
Past perfect
Past progressive Present Future progressive
Present perfect progressive Future perfect progressive
Past perfect progressive

Use the two present forms (simple present, present progressive) to show events that take place now.
Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect
progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.
38 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, future perfect
progressive) to show events that take place in the future.
1. Use past tenses accurately.
The six past tenses all indicate the past in a different way. The following chart provides examples of
how to use these tenses.

Tense Use Example

Simple past Completed action

(indefinite We washed the car.
time)
Completed condition (indefinite We were happy the
time) party was over.
Completed action (definite time) We washed the car yesterday.
Completed condition (definite I was delighted yesterday to
time) receive the news.
Present perfect Completed action
(indefinite We have bought the gifts.
time)
Completed condition (indefinite I have been very relieved.
time)
Action continuing into the Sarah has called for two
present hours.
Condition continuing into the She has been in New York
present for a week.
Past perfect Action completed before
Greg had called all his friends
another before the party started.
Condition completed Greg had been a butcher
before he became a guru.
Past progressive Continuous completed action I was attending a spa
that month.
Present perfect progressive Action continuing into present Ralph has been exercising all
week.
Past perfect progressive Continuing action interrupted Katie had been repairing the
by another fence that was damaged in the

2. Use future tenses accurately.

The chart on the next page explains the future tenses.
Using Verbs Correctly 39

Tense Use Example

Simple future Future action The bus will arrive.

Future condition I will be shocked when it
does.
Future perfect Future action completed before By the time you read this, the
another bus will have arrived.
Future condition completed before The storm will have been
another raging for an hour before the
phone goes out.
Future progressive Continuing future action Janice will be exercising all
summer.
Future perfect progressive Continuing future action completed When we go on vacation next
before another week, I will have been
exercising for a month.

3. Don’t switch tenses in midstream.

Never shift tenses in the middle of a sentence or a paragraph because it confuses readers. This
guideline is especially important if your sentence contains more than one verb.
Incorrect: I thought I had broken the CD player when I dropped it on the floor, but it sud-past
past perfect past
denly begins to play! present
Correct: I thought I had broken the CD player when I dropped it on the floor, but it sud-past
past perfect past
denly began to play! past

Active and Passive Voice

In addition to showing time through tense, action verbs also show whether the subject per-forms
the action or receives the action. This is called a verb’s voice. English verbs have two voices: active
and passive. (Linking verbs do not show voice.)

1. A verb is active when the subject performs the action. We took

the package home. (“We” are doing the action.) I served a delicious
meal. (“I” am doing the serving.)
Notice that in the active voice, the sentence starts with the subject. The first sentence starts with
We. The second sentence starts with I.
2. A verb is passive when its action is performed upon the subject.
40 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

A package was taken home. (The speaker is not indicated.) A delicious

meal was served by me.
Notice that in the passive voice, the sentence does not start with the subject. The first sen-tence starts
with the object, “a package.” The second sentence starts with the object, “a delicious meal.”
In general, use the active voice whenever possible because it is more direct and forceful. Using the
active voice makes your writing crisp and powerful. The active verb is one word rather than two.
Further, there is no need for a prepositional phrase beginning with “by” if you use the active voice.

Using the passive voice is preferable over the active voice under two conditions:

You don’t want to assign blame.

A mistake occurred with the filing system.
Not surprisingly, the passive voice is very often found in business writing and speech. This helps the
writer or speaker avoid “finger pointing.”

You don’t know who did the action.

A prank phone call was made at 2:00 A . M .

a
A verb’s tense shows when the action takes place. Use the right order of tenses to show the
correct order of events.

English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. These classifications come
from the way the verb forms its past tense and past participles.

Voice shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). In general, use
the active voice instead of the passive voice.

QUESTIONS

Test True-False Questions

Yourself 1. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progres-
sive (also known as “perfect”).
2. The progressive form shows action, occurrence, or state of being that is taking place
right here and now.
3. The tense of English verbs is formed from helping verbs and principal parts. 4.
There are eight different past tenses. Each one indicates a subtle shift in time.
5. The past tense and past participle forms of irregular verbs are created by adding -d,
-ed, or -t to the present form but the vowel doesn’t change.
Using Verbs Correctly 41
6. Lie means “to be in a reclining position.” Lie conjugates to lie, lay, lain. 7. Lay means
“to put down.” Lay conjugates to lay, laid, laid.
8. Use the two past verb forms to show events that take place now.
9. Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect
progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.
10. Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, future perfect
progressive) to show events that take place in the future.

Completion Questions
Select the word that best completes each sentence.

1. Croatia (is, was) the first country to recognize the United States in 1776.
2. Ross Perot (resign, resigned, resigning) from the General Motors board of directors because of its
decision to purchase Hughes Aircraft Company.
3. John Wilkes Booth (shotted, shot, shooted) Lincoln in a theater and was found in a warehouse.
4. Theodore Roosevelt (won, winned, wonned) the Nobel Prize for his arbitration of treaty
discussions at the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
5. The Dominican Republic was called Santo Domingo when it first (gained, gain) independence.
6. The national anthem of the Netherlands is the oldest national anthem in the world: The music
(appeart, appeared) in 1572, the lyrics in 1590.
7. James Garfield could (wrote, write) Latin with one hand and Greek with the other—
simultaneously.
8. Before Bill Clinton, no left-handed American president had ever (serve, served) two terms.
9. Only three Presidents (have graduated, graduate) from the military academies: Grant and
Eisenhower from West Point, and Carter from Annapolis.
10. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that, to be eligible for the Presidency, a candidate must be a
natural-born citizen, must (have lived, live) in the United States for a min-imum of 14 years, and must
be at least 35 years old.
11. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to have a presidential aircraft, but he only
(flewed, flew) on the airplane once, to travel to the Yalta conference during World War II.
12. Of all U.S. presidents, none (live, lived) to be older than John Adams, who died at the age of 91.
13. John Quincy Adams (taked, took) his last skinny-dip in the Potomac on his seventy-ninth
birthday.
42 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED

14. All U.S. presidents (have worn, weared, have weared) glasses, but some of these men didn’t
like to be seen wearing eyeglasses in public.
15. When Harry Truman left office in 1952, he (get, got) in his own car and (drived, drove)
himself back to Missouri.

Multiple-Choice Questions Select the best

answer for each question.

1. There are four basic types of verbs:

(a) Action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs, verb phrases (b) Helping verbs,
action verbs, gerunds, participles
(c) Helping verbs, verb phrases, active verbs, passive verbs (d) Action verbs,
normal verbs, regular verbs, irregular verbs
2. When applied to verbs, the word tense indicates (a) How many
subjects act or receive the action (b) Who or what experiences the
action
(c) When the action takes place: past, present, or future (d) The attitude
expressed toward the action
3. To show the future tense, English uses the helping verb (a) Has
(b) Have (c) Are (d) Will
4. The past participle forms all the following tenses except (a) Future
perfect
(b) The past perfect (c) Present perfect
(d) The active voice
5. The past tense of the verb to give is (a) Gived
(b) Gave
(c) Have given (d) Gaved
6. The present participle of to lie (to be in a horizontal position) is (a) Lying
(b) Lay
(c) Have lain (d) Lie
Using Verbs Correctly 43
7. The past tense of the verb to freeze is (a) Freezed
(b) Have froze (c) Froze
(d) Frozed
8. The past participle of the verb to write is (a) Writing
(b) Have written (c) Wrote
(d) Writed
9. The verb to be includes all the following principal parts except (a) Being, was
(b) Has, have (c) Been, am (d) Are, is
10. Which of the following sentences is in the active voice?
(a) Plans for an assisted-living center were revealed by the city council at yester-day’s meeting.
(b) The package was opened by my cousin Louie.
(c) At noon, the gates to the stadium were finally opened. (d) A snail can sleep for three years.
11. Which of the following sentences is in the passive voice? (a) The electric chair was invented by
a dentist.
(b) A dentist invented the electric chair.
(c) You share your birthday with at least nine million other people in the world.
(d) You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.
12. You should use the active voice whenever possible for all the following reasons except (a) It creates a sentence that is
direct and to the point.
(b) It creates a shorter sentence and is thus easier to read.
(c) It emphasizes the receiver of the action rather than the doer of the action. (d) It emphasizes the doer of the action
rather than the receiver of the action.